


how do you fake feelings (when you know they're real)

by anchorsandtethers



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Best Friends, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Future Fic, aka the best trope ever, bc these two obviously go together
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2017-05-20
Packaged: 2018-10-12 07:11:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10485234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anchorsandtethers/pseuds/anchorsandtethers
Summary: Lydia meets Jackson at the supermarket, and he is back in town to plan the last details for his wedding. He invites her, and she doesn't want to go there alone.





	1. Please?

**Author's Note:**

> This fic was made for stydia-fanfiction to fill a prompt about Stiles and Lydia fake dating (let's be honest this trope is the best ever)  
> This is my Stydia first multi-chapter fic, so I hope that everything makes sense at the end (please be nice with me!!)  
> And thank you to my babe Hannagh (@beronicakissed on tumblr for the proof-reading i love you)  
> Enjoy!

When she was younger, Lydia thought she would become the Princess of Beacon Hills. She thought she would have a lacrosse captain boyfriend, a fussy best friend and would make her way through high school easily. Well, she did make her way through high school easily (expect for the usual supernatural stuff, but that's another thing), but she didn't have a lacrosse captain boyfriend (at least not anymore) and her best friends were far from being fussy. They were the two dorkest, nicest, funniest, and loving friends she could ever ask for. And their names were Scott and Stiles. And God, she would never choose anyone else over them. Ever.

Now, here she was, in the alcohol aisle of the main supermarket in town, looking for some booze to celebrate Scott's 25th birthday. When they all graduated from their respective school, they all decided to come back to Beacon Hills, because, well, it was their home, and none of them felt like living somewhere they couldn't see each other almost every day.

She was holding a bottle of vodka in her hand when she felt a tap on her shoulder. “Hey, Stiles...”, she turned around, eyes still focused on the bottle, “...how many bottles of vodka do you think...” She stopped mid-sentence because it wasn't Stiles standing in front of her. It was Jackson Whittemore. As in: Jackson Whittemore, her jerk ex-boyfriend. Her mouth literally made an 'O' because seeing him in the supermarket was the last thing she thought would happen today, or like ever again. “Oh- Hi- Hi! Jackson! What- What are you doing in Beacon Hills?” She was still surprised, and turned her head to see where Stiles was, and the answer was nowhere to be found. She hoped that he wasn't being goofy with some people he met in the cake aisle. She smiled at the thought. 

'Well... I'm just here to buy some groceries for my mom, but I'm here for a few weeks because I'm getting married, and I thought it would be great to be back home... for planning the last few details with my parents, so...” He said, shrugging his shoulders and smiling. She put the bottle she was holding in her cart.  
“You're getting married? That's amazing! Who's the lucky girl?” She tried to play the 'nice girl' card, but inside she was feeling weird, because the last time she saw him, he was just an immature kid who wanted her just to himself and he couldn't, so he decided to move to the other side of the ocean.  
“You remember Kirsten? From high school? She just nodded. “Well... Turns out she came to London after high school to study business at the same school as me so... We found each other there, and... now we’re here. Crazy, right?” He smiled genuinely at her, and in that moment, Lydia knew that he had changed. She could see it in the way he talked, his voice much sweeter and calm than before.  
“Well, you seem... Happy. Really happy.” She said, crossing her arms over her chest. “And different. I like this version of you better.” 

He laughed at that, and scratched his neck.  
“What about you, Lydia? What have you been up to?” She looked around and wondered why Stiles was taking so much time.  
“Well, I've graduated from MIT and now I'm working in a lab where I also teach the MIT juniors who want to stay there for an internship. So, let's say I've been doing pretty good.” Jackson raised his eyebrows.  
“Let me guess... You graduated valedictorian and now pretty much teach for the MIT?” She grimaced, amused.  
“Nah, I just got an partnership with them so I could manage to have some free time now and then.” She smiled, and there was a weird moment of silence between the two of them. “Yeah, I should- I should go, I've got to find Stiles. I mean, he's probably talking with an old lady or trying to help her get some tomato soup that's too high for her to reach so-” He cut her off. “So he's your boyfriend? I have to send him an invitation too so he can be your plus one! I just send yours yesterday I think, so you should get it this week.” 

Lydia felt her cheeks and ears turning red, but she didn't say anything about the fact that Jackson thought Stiles and her were a couple so instead she just nodded.  
“You know,” he shrugged again. “I always knew that you guys were going to become a thing sooner or later. He always had this weird crush on you, even when we were dating, but it doesn't surprise me now.” She took a few deep breaths, trying to make the blush from her face disappear.  
“I'm really happy. Thank you so much for the invitation, but I've really got to go.”, she said, trying to avoid looking at him in the eyes. He nodded, taking a few steps back to let her go.“It was good to see you”, she almost whispered.  
He made a move to hug her, but decided to step back at the last second. Instead, he just put a hand on her arm.  
“It was good to see you too. Say hi to Stiles for me, okay? And tell him I'm not a jerk anymore!” he joked. She looked at him one last brief time and smiled, waving at him before taking her cart and leaving the alcohol aisle.

~

She was right. After looking like a lost person, searching through all the aisles, she found Stiles in the dog food aisle, speaking to an old lady and smiling. She approached him and tapped on his shoulder. He turned around with a smile on his face.  
“Hey Lydia! Meet Anna”, he pointed a finger at the old lady standing next to him and she waved a small 'hi' at Lydia, smiling at her. “She used to watch me when I was a kid, when my parents were out for dinner or my dad came home at night. She was the nicest nanny in town.” He beamed at her, and she winked at him.  
“I was just about to go. I have a dog to feed, and if I'm late for lunch he will be mad at me for the rest of the day.” She gave Stiles a quick hug, waved at Lydia and left with her cart.

“What took you so long? I was waiting for you all this time!” Stiles said his arms crossed over his chest and a smile on his lips. Lydia's face turned a tiny bit red, and she hoped he wouldn't see it. “Well... Guess who I ran into? You'll never find who it is.” Stiles rolled his eyes and threw his arms in the air. “What's the point of asking me if you think I'm never going to find out, Lydia?” She made a grimace at him.  
“Jackson.” Stiles' mouth turned in a 'O' shape just as hers had. “As in Jackson, your ex-boyfriend who disappeared to London?” She just nodded. “And I didn't know it was him tapping on my shoulder, so I said your name, and now he thinks we're dating because we're at the supermarket together.” He put a hand on his stomach and started laughing, because he could clearly see her face turning red when she pronounced that last sentence.  
“And what did you answer?” He raised one eyebrow at her. She crossed her arms, pretending to be a little bit mad. 

“Well, I've said nothing to prove him wrong, because first he didn't let me, and also because he invited you as my plus one to his freaking wedding.” Stiles stopped laughing. “Wait a second. I don't know what confuses me the most: the fact that Jackson is getting married or the fact that you let him think that we're an actual couple. Like who would ever get married to Jackson Whittemore?” Lydia nodded. “I just let him think that so you could come with me to the wedding, because I don't want to go alone, okay?” She approached him with her signature puppy eyes. “Please, Stiles, as one of my two best friends on this whole planet, can you do this for me? Please pretend to be my boyfriend for Jackson's wedding?” She put her hands on his crossed arms and smiled at him. 

“What's in it for me?” he said, with a raspy voice, his eyebrow still raised. She made a offended face. “Mmm... Free food, duh! And also, you can, if you want, spend some free time with your best friend in some probably cool place, wearing fancy clothes, making fun of other people wearing fancy clothes and being fussy?” She was now fully grinning at him. He nodded yes before smiling down at her. “Okay, but just because you said my two favorite words.”  
“Best friend?”, she asked. He looked at her with a deadly look.  
“No, duh. Free food.” She slapped him on the arm and he laughed.  
“I don't know why I even talk to you sometimes.” She made a move to leave with the cart but he followed her and whispered in her ear.  
“Stop complaining or I will tickle you to the ground.” She threw her arms in the air and turned around.  
“Come on, we have to go home to prepare our only best friend's birthday. Because we're not each other's best friends.” He could see that she was starting to smile again as she said those words. So he just rolled his eyes and followed her to the end of the supermarket.

He didn't know how it would be, fake dating her, but he knew he loved fake arguing with her in the dog food aisle. And that was a good start.


	2. Okay, let's do this

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all the kudos, it truly means a lot to know that some people are actually reading this! Hope you enjoy that second chapter, we're slowly getting there, peeps. Really slowly getting there...

Even after all these years, Lydia Martin was still the best party planner in Beacon Hills, and she proved it once again at Scott's birthday party. She managed to invite some friends they all had in high school, cousins and friends from UC Davis, just with the magic help of social networks and by making a thousand phone calls. But Scott looked really happy, and that was the best gift ever.

It was 2 a.m and the party was still going hard. It was a surprise party so they couldn't host it at Scott and Stiles' apartment, so instead her mom volunteered to let them have her house, event though she made Lydia promise that there would be no 'wolf transformation and vase-breaking' tonight.

She was in the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of wine, when she saw Scott appear, with Liam following him. As soon as he saw her, he literally jumped on her and gave her a giant bear hug. Her face was literally crushed against his collarbone.   
“Oh my god, Lyds, you are the best friend anyone could ever ask for.” He was smiling wide, his head on top of hers and his arms around her petite silhouette. “I was so not expecting that. I'm so happy, Lyds, thank you thank you thank you, I love youuuuuuu.” She used her hands to tap him hard on the back.   
“Mmmm... Can't... Breathe...”, she managed to say between breaths because he was holding her too hard. He released her with a laugh. Her face was red now, but she smoothed her hair down and smiled widely at him.   
“You're welcome. It was so cool to organize this, and I actually had a little help from Stiles, so I'm not the only one you should thank.”   
At that, Scott raised his eyebrows. 

“Oh... Speaking about Stiles, he told us about the wedding.” Lydia put her face in her hands dramatically.   
“Yeah, he said you asked him to pretend to be your boyfriend to make Jackson jealous.” Liam added. She pointed a finger at his face.   
“It's not to make Jackson jealous okay? I just... I don't want to go there alone, and Scott already has Kira so... I didn't want to feel awkward.” she admitted. Scott laughed at her embarrassment.  
“It's okay, Lyds, he says it'll be weird too but I know he's happy about it. Don't worry, it'll be fun.” 

He put one of his arms around her side and hugged her sideways. He kissed her cheek.   
“Thank you again.”, he whispered in her ear before picking her up before she could even notice. She raised her eyebrows at him before seeing his wicked grin and understanding.   
“Scott...”, she warned him, pointing a finger on her face. “You better not do what I think you're about to do!” He just nodded and puckered his lips, leaving the kitchen and holding Lydia with a strong grip. She tried to push against his chest but obviously, his alpha powers were more than enough to keep her in his arms. He started to run through the house, approaching the garden and the pool. A lot of people were already wet, running and jumping in the water. Lydia just had one second to scream before she found herself, head out of the water, hair dripping wet. “Scott McCall!”, she screamed, searching for him. She actually was laughing inside but now her outfit and makeup were ruined. Some people she didn’t even know were throwing weird looks at her but she didn’t care. 

“Hey Lydia...” She turned around at the sound, finding her other best friend, aka future fake boyfriend, standing at the edge of the swimming pool, hand reaching for her. She sighed of relief and laughed. She took his hand and he helped her get out of the pool. She took a few breaths before sitting on the edge of the pool, not caring if people were accidentally throwing water at her. Stiles sat beside her.   
“You don't care about getting thrown in the pool?” He just shrugged. “Nah, I'm good.” They both smiled. He nudged her with his shoulder. “Hey, I just... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry.” She didn't ask him why, she just raised her eyebrows at him and tilted her head to the side.   
“Sorry for being rude. I don't want you to feel like I don't want to do this, and I acted like a jerk at the supermarket.” He put his hand around her shoulders and approached her, as if they weren't close enough. “Please forgive me?” She moved her head from left to right.   
“You are unbelievable, Stilinski. I was not mad at you at all. I was just a bit upset because I thought you were thinking that I was using you, but I was not. I really want to go there with you and I know that it'll be fun.” He sighed, relieved.   
“Good. I know it'll be fun. But like... Do we have to be hugging or kissing or like, doing couple stuff? Because I need to be prepared for that. I've been single since I broke up with Malia, you know so...” She let a loud laugh, even though it wasn't loud enough to cover the noises from the crowd around them.   
“We'll see, Stiles. Don't freak out. We still have one week, okay? One week of being just best friends, alright?” He just nodded frantically. She put a hand on his leg to prop herself up. “I'm going to take a towel from the bathroom okay? I'll be right back.” He nodded, staying with his feet in the water.

When she came back outside, drying her hair with a towel, she saw Scott and Stiles sitting in the garden together, laughing. Liam and Mason were with them too, joking about someone who fell in the pool.   
She was watching them and smiling wide, because sometimes she just had to remind herself that these two boys were the two most important people in her life, her family, and she was so glad and blessed to have found them.

~

“Like, I don't get it... Jackson is so rich that he literally invited us two days before his wedding so we could go to a yacht for a pre-wedding party and he paid for our plane tickets?” Stiles had been talking about this since they left Beacon Hills two hours ago. “I can't believe how snob the guy is.”   
They were now in the airport, waiting for their plane on a bench with their suitcases. Lydia rolled his eyes at him.   
“Is that all you want to talk about? Because you've been doing this for hours, and I hope you're going to stop before the actual wedding. Soon you'll be standing during the ceremony, telling the priest that you think they shouldn't get married because the guy's too rich for her and that he's using her for God-knows-what.” 

They had to wake up at 5 that morning, so it was an understatement to say that she was feeling a bit irritated after two hours of Stiles complaining non-stop. And Scott and Kira weren’t even there to distract her after cancelling last minute. Scott's mom had gone into surgery because of an arm fracture a week ago and she needed help for her daily routine and some bandages, so he chose to stay with her. 

Now she was left alone with her other best friend, and right now she was reconsidering her choice of best friends.   
“Okay, I'll stop. But just because I've run out of arguments...” He was now sitting in a weird way, trying to get confortable. When it was clearly impossible for him to do so, he stood up and told Lydia he was going to buy some snacks for the flight. 

Ten minutes later he came back with three packs of Reese's and some M&M's, the tannoy called them for their flight to Miami. Lydia sighed in relief, hoping the flight and the food he bought were going to be enough to distract him from complaining. Sometimes, she was wondering if he really was 25 or actually 13 because of how easily he was distracted by the simplest thing. When they got into their seats, she noticed that there were screens for everybody and her mood lifted because it meant she could sleep while he's watch some weird comedy movie with dirty jokes or some Star Wars movies.   
Please let there be some Star Wars movies in here.

“Oh my god, Lydia, I'm so scared right now.” They were about to take off, and Lydia never thought that he would be scared of planes. And then everything came into place. The constant complaining, him not being able to stay on the bench and leaving to get some food, all of this was just to hide the fact that he was scared as hell.   
“Are you for real?”, she laughed. She slapped her hand on her leg, forgiving him for being such an ass since this morning. He was now gripping both arms of his seat, jaw clenched.   
“That's not funny. At all.” She could see a pearl of sweat appear at the top of his forehead. And she was actually beginning to feel bad for him, so she put her hand on his.   
“Come on, Stiles.” She was rubbing the back of his hand, fearing that he would have a panic attack. Her face approached his, and her voice was smooth and soft. “Focus on my voice.” she whispered to him.   
The plane was beginning to shake, and they both knew they were taking off. He took some deep breaths, his eyes closed. He took Lydia's hand in his and gripped it hard. She used her thumb to rub his, and tried to reassure him with her same low voice.

After two minutes of hand-crushing and freaking out, the pilot announced that they were finally in the air and there were no turbulence planned during the flight. At that, Stiles sighed and finally released her hand. She grimaced and tried to take her hand's sensibility back, moving her fingers frantically. He turned to look at him, his eyes reminding her of the day he had a panic attack in the locker room back in high school.   
“Sorry about that...”, he pointed at her hand. “For crushing your hand.” She smiled at him.   
“It's okay. You were about to have a panic attack.” He tried to laugh, but inside he was ashamed, because he didn't want Lydia to see him like that. So he tried to be a clown.   
“Well, you didn't kiss me this time.” He raised an eyebrow at her, and this they both laughed.

Three hours into the flight, Lydia was reading a book about scientific essays revolving around the feeling of déjà-vu, and Stiles was snoring, earphones in his ears, head against the window, and The Proposal playing on the plane screen.  
And the weirdest part was that the scene playing at the moment she looked at the screen was the plane scene. She smiled at the fact that he secretly was a sucker for romantic movies and decided to take a picture of him sleeping to show it to him later.  
She put her phone and book down and rubbed her temple, feeling the beginning of a headache appear. She had now been awake for a long time, and between the car ride and the queue at the airport, she was actually feeling exhausted. She rested her head on her seat, and fell asleep before she knew it.

When Stiles woke up, the pilot was talking about the landing, and he was about to freak out, but as soon as he turned his head to look at Lydia, he saw that she was asleep and snoring, and that she had her head on his shoulder. He thought about recording a video to prove that she snored in her sleep too, but he thought better of it, he knew that she would kick him in the balls if she ever found out about it. So instead, he chose to take a selfie of them, with him making a silly face, his head on top of hers, and her with her mouth hanging wide open.

He was about to wake her up when the pilot spoke again to say that the landing had gone successfully and that they were now in Miami. Stiles realized at that moment that he made it through the landing without freaking out. He sighed in relief and looked at Lydia again.   
He didn't know how she could do it but even asleep, almost with drool hanging over her mouth, she still looked as beautiful as ever. He didn't want to wake up her, he just wanted to look at her. But he didn't want to admit to himself, even less to her. So instead, he nudged her gently in the shoulder. She moaned a little, showing him that she didn't want to get up, but he put a hand on her hair and gently stroke it.  
“Come on, Lydia. We're here.” She slowly removed her head from his shoulder and sit in her seat again.   
“Ugh...” She wiped her eyes, a pout on her face. “I hate sleeping in place. Turns out you're more tired when you wake up than when you fall asleep.” She turned to look at Stiles and started laughing.   
“What's wrong?” she asked, a confused look on her face. Stiles was holding his chest and continued laughing.   
“You have the biggest mark on your face. Like, half of your face is telling everyone that you have slept for a long time.” He smiled wide at her. She took her bag to search for her mirror pocket. She got it out and used it to look at her face. When she saw that half her face was red with stripe marks from Stiles' sweater, she gasped, making him laugh harder. She put her mirror back in her bag and crossed her arms over her chest.   
“Stop laughing at me!” When she saw that he didn't, she slapped him gently on the arm. She hated sleeping in planes, but he loved it when she did.


	3. Miami nights (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They're going to Jackson's pre-wedding party, and some champagne is involved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally some !dating stuff, even though it's still on the slow build-up side. Hope you enjoy this one! (also I cut this chapter in two, so you'll probably get the other half of it very soon)

They showed up at Jackson's uncle yacht almost late for the party. 

They had to stop at their hotel room located in the center of Miami first to put on decent clothes so they didn't have to look like two people who just woke up from a decade of sleep. They had to share a room, because thanks to Jackson telling them they were invited last minute, all the affordable hotels rooms with two beds were booked, so they had to book a single bed room at a reasonable price. Stiles decided to let Lydia use the bathroom to change while he had the rest of the room.  
The room was not big, but it was just enough for them, with a table and a tiny balcony. Stiles was ready, with a light blue button down shirt, beige chino jeans and white Adidas sneakers. He went to the balcony to admire the view. They were lucky they had that view of Miami's harbor, because when they saw the price of the room, they saw all they were going to see was some dumpsters and abandoned cars.

“What do you think?”, Lydia called from behind. He turned around and couldn't stop himself from letting out a light 'wow'. She was beautiful. Like, more than her everyday beautiful, if it even was possible. She let her hair down, in beautiful light curls with just some strands turned in some complex braid, making a crown on her head. Her makeup was light, with her signature light red lips. She was wearing a short light blue sleeveless flower dress and beige wedges. When she noticed Stiles' outfit, she smirked at him.  
“Are you for real?” He put his hands up.  
“What? Did I button my shirt wrong?” She moved her head no.  
“We're literally matching. We're both wearing blue and beige, that's scandalous.” He raised his eyebrows at the realization.  
“Well, it's the universe helping us get into character. That way, we'll definitely look like a real couple.” She smiled at him and turned around to put her makeup in her bags. 

“We have to settle on a story to tell people at the party if they ask about us, you know”. He was actually really nervous about this, because he has never pretended to be someone's boyfriend, even less her best friend's, aka the person he had a huge crush on since he could remember. He hoped he still had those acting skills he used to show his dad when he did something wrong and he didn't want to be grounded.  
“Ah. Don't worry.” She was looking for something in her bag. When she got an envelope out of it, she approached him and handed it to him. He took it, a perplexed look on his face. “

What's this?” She nodded at the envelope.  
“Everything you need to know about our 'relationship'”. She made quotation marks signs with her hands at that last word. I wrote everything when you were sleeping in the plane. He nodded at her and got reminded that she used to plan everything, and this was no exception. He opened the envelope and started to read the “script”. “Wait a second... I begged you to be my girlfriend?” he threw her a weird look. She knew his reaction would be this one.  
“You should have stayed awake to help me write it then.” A silence appeared between them, Lydia waiting for him to finish reading everything. When he looked up at her, she sent him a questioning look.  
“So, what do you think?” He made a satisfied face.  
“It's okay. Everything kind of makes sense. I just don't agree with the part where I beg you, because the whole world knows that you'd be the one to beg me to be your boyfriend.” She rolled her eyes at him and smoothed her dress down.  
“You can tell people what you want about that part, as long as everything else is the same on both parts, alright?” He nodded, agreeing with the rest of their story.  
“Come on, now,” She looked at her watch and realized that they were already late to the pre-wedding party. “We're already late, and we still have to take a cab and find the yacht.” He picked up his jacket on a chair.  
“Aren't you taking your jacket?” She nodded no. “It's really hot in Miami, I probably won't need it.” She made a move to get out of the room, holding the door for him, and he followed her to the exit.

After half an hour of finding a cab and finding the right yacht, they were both standing in front a giant boat. If you asked Stiles, he didn't even think that this thing was a yacht, it was more like a miniature cruise boat. It was so big that he was wondering how many people could fit in it, and he realized that they could have had hosted Scott's party in this thing.  
They hopped up on the boat, Stiles' helping Lydia get on it. There were vigils at the entrance of it, checking the invited list. After they both gave their names, they were welcomed by a barman holding a tray with a dozen of glasses of champagne. They both took one, and made a toast. “Okay, here we go, girlfriend.” He looked at her and raised an eyebrow in a wicked way. She smiled at him and raised her glass. “Here we go, boyfriend.” 

They couldn't even believe how many people were on that boat. If this was a pre-wedding party, what would the real wedding look like?  
After trying to get past some already drunk people, they got into a huge living room filled with people dressed like they were going to the Oscars. There were sofas and barmen everywhere, alcohol flooding from every corner of the room, trays of champagne glasses coming out of everywhere they were looking.  
“Lydia?”, someone called from behind. Stiles and her turned around to face an old classmate from Beacon Hills, Greenberg.  
“Yo, guys! What's up?” He gave them quick hugs, which they both not did answer to, not having the time to.  
They had spent a good part of the evening talking with Greenberg on a sofa, both of them beginning to be a bit tipsy from sipping too many glasses of champagne. Lydia had taken her shoes off, her feet under her butt. Stiles was sitting close to her, and they were both laughing at some story Greenberg was telling about the time they were in high school. They saw someone tall approach them, and they saw that it was Jackson, with her soon-to-be wife at his right arm.  
“Hey guys! I'm so glad that you all made it!” He let go of Kirsten's arm to give a quick hug to all of them. He made a move to sit on the sofa beside them, telling Kirsten to sit on his lap.  
“Are you guys enjoying tonight?” They all nodded. “Yeah, it's... Very nice. And fancy.” Stiles said, giving another look at the giant room they were in. “Yeah, that's my dad's gift for the wedding. I didn't want to do something that big, but he had already booked the yacht, so I couldn't say no.” It seemed like he was a little ashamed of doing something so snob, because he then looked down and scratched his neck. Stiles thought at that moment, that maybe Lydia had been right when she told him he had changed.

Greenberg got up and told them he was going to join his girlfriend on the deck. That left two couples alone. Kirsten used the free place to sit beside Stiles. The sofa being in a “C” shape, they were facing each other.  
“So, Stiles. Let me tell you that I absolutely knew that you guys were going to get together someday, I already told Lydia the other day when I saw her, but she started blushing.” Stiles gave her a quick look and noticed that she was blushing as well. “You didn't tell me that, babe.” As if she wasn't blushing enough, him calling her 'babe' did an even worse job at helping her recover. So instead, she decided to play the full girlfriend card and raised her head up.  
“Yeah, that's because I knew you would get all sappy about it.” She started to imitate him by making big movements with his hands. “Oh my god, Lydia, he knew you were going to fall in love with me because I am so handsome and smart and hot!” she said with a deep voice.  
He was looking at her with wide eyes, and Jackson and Kirsten were just laughing. Stiles was about to answer back, but she didn't let him. She pointed at him. “And he's already so head over heels with me that he'd do everything to make everyone believe that I was the one begging for him to become my boyfriend.” Jackson sent her a questioned look.  
“Were you?” At that, she tilted her hair to Stiles' side, and he knew he had to answer. “I was the one to beg her.” He raised his hand, pretending to be ashamed, because he knew that she did on purpose. He got reminded of their talk earlier in the hotel room.  
“You can tell people what you want about that part”, she had said, but he smiled internally because she was so smart she had done everything to prove her version right first. Jackson smiled at him, or maybe he was making fun of him, he didn't know but he didn't care, because he knew all of this was faked. Lydia's ex boyfriend moved his fingers in front of them in a circular movement.  
“So, how did it happen? The two of you?” Lydia was about to answer, but Stiles stopped her by putting a hand on the bare skin of her thigh. She hoped he didn't see it, but she actually had goose bumps from the touch.

“Well, at our high school graduation, after she made her valedictorian speech, she came to see me and I kissed her. I told her that I knew that she was leaving, and that I was leaving too, but I told her I loved her and that, if I had to, I'd come to her next valedictorian speech and that I would kiss her again there.” He threw Lydia a smile. “And that's what I did a few years later. She didn't think I would be there, but I took Scott with me because otherwise I was scared I wouldn't do it. But I surprised her and I kissed her, and she kissed me too. So we're here now.” He was now beaming at her, and she slid her hand in his on her thigh. She just nodded at him, her face turning a light shade of pink. 

“That is so cute.” Kirsten said, her hands joined together under her chin, making Stiles and Lydia break eye contact. Their hands were still joined, and Lydia looked at them still blushing. When she recomposed herself, she saw that Jackson and Kirsten were actually busy kissing next to them, so she tugged on Stiles' hand and approached his ear.  
“That's not what I wrote on the script.” she whispered to him. He smirked.  
“I know, but that version is so much better. Aren't you glad that I'm being even more romantic with my girlfriend?” He could clearly hear her smile against his ear and he wondered if that smile was a fake or real one. He hoped for the last version.


	4. Miami nights (2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> just picking up where we left off, with both of them drunk and dorky.

They didn't know what time it was, but they knew that it was late, and that they were now officially drunk. After they saw that Jackson and Kirsten's kissing session was turning into a full make out session, they just had to share a look to know that they had to leave the living room. They headed for the deck, Lydia holding her shoes in one hand, and Stiles' arm in the other. The yacht was now a little emptier than earlier, probably because some people were probably going to work tomorrow. When they got to the deck, they were surprised to see that it was almost empty, with just three people on it, and two of them were falling asleep.

They sat together, their back against the wall separating the living room from the outside. Lydia reached for her bag and pulled out her phone.  
“Oh look!”, she almost screamed, her voice echoing through the harbor, the only other sound being heard being the faint sound of music coming from the inside of the yacht.  
“Scott sent me a text!” She moved her phone close to her face, as if being drunk made her loose the ability to read.” Yes, Scott, we're doing okay.” She spoke to herself, trying to type a decent but clearly failing. Stiles couldn't stop himself from laughing at her.  
“You can't even type a text, Lydia. Come on, let's send him a selfie, it'll be wayyyy easier.” She nodded at him and erased the message she was trying to type. She put her phone in Stiles' hand. “You have a longer arm.”, she said as if it was a very important fact to make a good selfie. He tapped on the little photograph icon on her phone and put the camera in selfie mode. Lydia put her head on his shoulder and made a duck face (she would regret that face so much in the morning, she knew it) and he just made a wide smile with his teeth. As soon as he took the picture, he clicked 'send' and gave it back to her. She put it back in her bag and put her head on his shoulder.

“I never thought I would ever say that but... Jackson seems like a nice guy. Like actually a lot better than the last version of him I remember. And that party was... Nice. Even though we probably looked like the least classy people in the room.”, Stiles said with a smile on his face, watching the water rise and fall in front of him, their bodies being rocked gently by the light waves.  
“Yeah.”, was all she answered for a while. There was a silence between them, but it was nice to hear nothing but the faint sound of some 80's pop song being played in the background. Lydia was about to fall asleep, but was interrupted by Stiles' raspy voice.  
“Did I do a good job? Being your boyfriend?”. She might have been drunk, but she could hear the worry in his voice. He didn't want to disappoint her, and he really wanted to make everything believable. She looked up at him and gave him a drunken smile.  
“Yes. Yes, you were a perfect boyfriend tonight. And your version of the story was actually really cute.” Stiles threw a fist in the air as a sign of victory, and smiled wide, biting his lower lip. 

An hour later, they were still sitting there, still silent and watching the waves, when Lydia threw a look at her watch.  
“Oh my god, Stiles, it's 4 in the morning!”, she screamed. He didn't know if she was shocked or excited about it. Probably both, because he knew that she used to go to sleep at 11 at night tops after they got out of high school. She had a lot of sleep to catch up on. But anyway, she was grinning like a little kid, and Stiles didn't know if it was because he was drunk or because she looked beautiful under the moonlight, but he wanted to kiss her so bad. He shook his head slowly and stoop up. “Come on..”, he said, holding out his hand to her. She took it after picking up her shoes from the floor. “Let's go.” He took his jacket and put it around her shoulders, because he notced that she had goosebumps from the gentle breeze. He then put an arm around her shoulders and they decided to say goodbye and then leave the party.

~

When they got back to the hotel, it was past 5am, they'd had a hard time finding an Uber. Stiles was having a hard time putting the card in the door handle hole. Behind him, Lydia rolled her eyes and threw her arms in the air dramatically. She couldn't handle Stiles being a clumsy drunk anymore, so instead she put him aside, took the card out of his hand and put it in the door handle on the first try. She pushed the door aside and looked at Stiles with a “even when we're drunk I'm smarter than you” look. He grimaced at her and told her she was a know-it-all. He then entered the room and ran to the bed. He threw himself on it, facedown, as she closed the door behind her and threw her bag and shoes on the floor.

“You know what? I'm sleeping all day tomorrow. Or today. Ugh. I don't care if Miami if a great city, that's it's hot here and we should enjoy the beach and the sun...”, he mumbled, his face against his pillow, only half of what he was saying audible. Lydia walked to the end of the bed and untied her braid, letting herself fall on the bed next to her best friend. “I am soooooo tired. I don't think I should have drank that much.” Lydia didn't answer, just nodded because he was right. Tonight was such a trap, with waiters coming every ten minutes with glasses of champagne and tiny cocktails. And every time they took a drink, they told themselves that “champagne can't get you drunk”, so they kept on drinking.

Stiles was about to fall asleep when he felt Lydia shake his arm. He opened his eyes to a sweating and pale-faced Lydia. “I think I'm about to throw up.” She just had the time to put a hand to her mouth before jumping from the bed and running to the bathroom. He followed her as quick as he could, finding her over the toilet, her tiny body curled up over the toilet. He came beside her and held her hair with one hand and caressed her back with the other. He knew he couldn't do anything to help her beside wait for it to end. “You'll feel better when it's over, it's okay.” He hated to see her like that, because he could see that her throat was hurting so much she was starting to cry. It reminded him of high school: when she first discovered her powers, she used to scream all the time, not making the difference between a person in danger and a person dying. Her throat was sore all the time, and sometimes when she used to scream, she also cried, alone, her throat hurting her so much.

After a few minutes, she calmed down and looked at him with tired eyes. He opened the shower tap next to him, and put a washcloth under the water. He then used it to wash Lydia's face, wiping her makeup off, leaving dark black circled under her eyes. “I'm sorry, Stiles.” He gave her a confused look. “About what exactly?” She sighed, using her arms to steady herself on the floor even though she was already sitting. “About you seeing me like that. With vomit all worn-out makeup all over my face.” He laughed at her because even after throwing up, she cared about the way she looked. “Oh my god, Lydia, you are incredible.” His hand was still rubbing circles on her back. “You know what? Even when you're sick, you're still beautiful, okay? Believe me.” She rolled her eyes at him, and he stopped his hand. “Don't roll your eyes at me. I don't lie.” He paused when he saw that she was throwing a knowing look. “I don't lie about you. Ever. Or to you, by the way.” 

After waiting a few minutes for Lydia to take her energy back, the both stood up, Stiles helping her. Her dress was stained, and she wanted to take a shower, but he didn't want to leave her alone, afraid that she might fall in the shower, so they decided to take her dress off (Stiles turned around so he couldn't see her naked) and just put her in her pyjamas. “But I can't go to sleep like that...”, she almost whined, still a bit drunk. “Go sit on the bed, I'm coming, okay?” She listened to him and left the bathroom. He took the washcloth from earlier with a bottle of water and joined her.

She was sitting on the bed when she got back, looking like she was about to cry. He squatted in front of her and showed her the washcloth. She took it from him and washed her face again. She then washed her arms and hands, and then checked if she didn't have anything in her hair. He came to sit beside her and looked at it. “You don't have anything, I've already checked. Twice.” He took the hair tie from her wrist and put it in a messy bun. She then managed to bring the washcloth back to the bathroom. When she got back, she let herself fall on the bed once again, but quickly sit up again, afraid that she might throw up again. “You know what, let's put pillows under your head so that you can sleep with your head up.” He took all the pillows from the bed and put them under her. When she finally laid her head on them, she looked at him. “I don't even know why but I want to cry so hard right now.” He smiled at her, putting her hand on her forehead. “That's because you're a weeping drunk. I actually forgot that about you. Thanks for reminding me.” She let out a crying laugh. “I'm not a weepy drunk.” She smiled at him and he was so glad that she was laughing because of him being a dork. He continued to talk to her and making her laugh until she slowly fell asleep.

He could see that the was sleeping peacefully, but he was still scared for her, so he lied down, curled up on his side, watching her in case she would wake up feeling sick. He fell asleep soon too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the lack of updates, i've been busy last week and forgot to update even though i still some more chapters up my sleeve!  
> i appreciate all kinds of returns and i hope you enjoyed this one as much as i did writing it!


	5. Sunkissed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They decide to chill at the beach after their wild night out and its consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i love this chapter so much bc they're both such dorks, and you can see lydia's science nerd come out so that's a plus! hope you enjoy that one!

Lydia woke up with the sun blinding her through the window. She put a hand over her eyes to readjust her vision. As she took a look around her, she saw that she was in her pyjamas. As she tried to move, her feet hurt. Probably because of her heels. Ugh, she was not used to wearing heels anymore. She looked at her side and noticed that Stiles was sleeping beside her, still wearing his clothes from last night, one of his shoes still on and his mouth hanging wide open. She smiled at him because she knew that he stayed beside her until he fell asleep because he wanted to take care of her. He had always been like that with her, caring about her and never about him, ever since she could remember and even when they got separated by school. She also noticed that beside him was a bottle of water, a dry towel and some pain killers. Boy had everything ready in case she would wake up sick, but thankfully, she was feeling much better than earlier.

Instead of leaving her warm bed, she gently removed the pillows from under her head and threw them on the floor. She then got more comfortable and sunk even deeper under the covers, pulling them under her chin. She turned to face Stiles' sleepy face and fell back asleep soon.

When she woke up again, the sun was shining bright in the room and she could feel it touch her skin. She saw that Stiles was still sleeping, and when she took a look at her phone, she noticed that it was already two in the afternoon. She took the pillow she threw on the floor and gently pushed Stiles with it. “Hmmmmmm...” He pushed the cover over his head, showing his disappointment. “I don't want to get up. It's too soon.” She laughed at him and pulled the covers to her, so she could throw the pillow at him again. “Lydia... Do you really want me to get angry in the morning?” She laughed even harder at him when she noticed that his hair was a total mess. “It's 2pm, dumbass. We're already too late to enjoy a decent day in Miami.” He threw her a death stare and let himself all on the pillow again, face down. “What do you want to do?” He managed to mumble, trying to breathe.  
“I say we find a nice place to brunch and then we can go to the beach and do nothing to get over our hangover.” She said, approaching his face. He turned to her suddenly. “You talked about food again.” She smiled wide at him. She loved his smile so much. “You do know me.” He raised one eyebrow at her. “It's not like we've been friends forever, you know.” She pouted at him.

She then got up and threw the last pillow she found at him. She then opened the curtains and looked at their view, arms crossed over her chest.  
Stiles chose that moment to stare at her. She was wearing her pyjamas and her hair was in a messy bun from last night. The sun was shining through her hair, making it a new shade of strawberry blonde he has never seen before. And even though she was sick last night and some makeup was still on her face, she was still the most beautiful thing Stiles has ever seen. She had a light smile on her face and she was frowning a bit, as if she was trying to resolve an enigma coming from the harbour of Miami.  
When she turned to face him, he tried to pretend he wasn't staring at her like a puppy the whole time, so he said the first thing that came to his mind. “You should shower.” He said, sitting on the bed, still in last night's clothes. She sent him a confused look before remembering. “Oh. Yes. Totally. Forgot about that.” She almost rushed to her suitcase and took out a bikini and a dress.

“Now I can't move from this towel anymore.” Lydia looked over at him over her sunglasses. They were at the beach, feet in the hot sand. “I shouldn't have eaten that much. That's why I hate brunch buffets. I feel like if I don't eat I'm wasting money.” Stiles was laying on his towel, too tall to have his whole body on it, his feet in the hot sand. He was holding his stomach and making a pained face. “It's hangover food, it'll do you good.” She said, enjoying the sun on her white skin. Stiles was clearly not enjoying the situation. He forgot his sunglasses at the hotel, he was burning from the sun (he hates having a sensitive skin) and he had sand in his hair. The only good thing to come out of this (except for the food earlier, of course), was Lydia in a bikini.  
Of course, he has seen Lydia in a bikini at least a hundred times since they were kids, but they haven't gone to the sea or to her cabin for a long time, so he's just been reminded of how her body looked like. Sure, he used to picture her a lot when he was a teenager, but he forgot how tiny her legs were, and how pretty she looked even in a baby blue bikini with cherries on it. “Stop whining, Stiles”. He could practically feel her rolling her eyes at him through her red heart-shaped sunglasses. He sat on his towel, wiping some sand from it. “Sun's too hot.” He started complaining, and Lydia started to wonder if he was still drunk or just being annoying.

“Come on.” Stiles was playing with sand, burying his feet in it, trying to find a cool spot under the towel. He felt Lydia's hand on his arm and was forced to look at her. “Let's go. You're complaining about the weather being too hot, we're going in the water.” She sent him a defying look, and he reminded that she was probably going to say something scientific to prove that he was just being annoying. She got up, not waiting for it, and starting heading towards the water. She came back just to throw her sunglasses on the towel and looked at him like she was challenging him. Seeing as she wasn”t waiting for him, he practically jumped from his towel and almost stumbled on it. He almost ran to catch up with her, and he was pretty sure that people were laughing from seeing a boy with milky skin, weird body hair and tiny limbs running on the sand and probably sending some everywhere. 

When he caught up with her, he wasn't white anymore but his face was red, and he didn't know if it was from the sun or from his embarassement. The look on her face was a proud one, because she knew she won again. They were standing side by side, arms almost touching, when Lydia approached him and got on the tip of her toes to reach his ear. “You know, the sun doesn't burn. At the core of it, gravity pulls all of the mass inward and creates an intense pressure. The pressure is high enough to force atoms of hydrogen to come together in nuclear fusion reactions. Two atoms of hydrogen are combined to create helium-4 and energy. These reactions account for 85% of the sun's energy. It doesn't burn, it's just fusing atoms.” She pulled away from him and smiled wide. He didn't know what kind of look he had on his face, but he was pretty sure it was one of admiration. Damn it, she was so smart, that was probably his favorite thing about her.

He was so lost in his thoughts that he was brought back to reality by water on his face. Lydia used her intelligence to distract him and throw water at him. The cold liquid against his hot skin made the effect of a lightning bolt, and before he knew it, he was chasing her down the beach. She was running as fast as she could, but they both knew that with her tiny legs and his giant ones, it wouldn't be long before he'd catch up with her. He was calling after her, laughing, and trying to distract her, but she never looked back.

He caught up later that he thought he would, but then he remembered that she actually is a member of Beacon Hill's athletics club. After high school, she wanted to do something that would make her stronger and healthier, so she joined an athlectics club in Massachusetts, and she loved it so much she kept doing it when she came back home.

When she finally got tired (he didn't know who was more tired to be honest, he was panting), he didn”t hesitate and instantly picked up her, scooping her in his arms bridal style. She tried to get out of his embrace, but failed when he used his left arm to tickle her in the stomach. “You shouldn't have done that. Now you're forcing me to take my vengeance.” He told her, brows furrowed. He walked, water now arriving at his waist. “I don't know what I'm going to do with you though.” He looked at the sky, thinking about his plan. Every time she wanted to protest, he tickled her so at the end she just gave up and put her hands around his neck to try to bring him down with her if he tried to throw her in the water.  
“What do you think I should do, Lydia? Throw you in the water, even though your hair is really pretty and you just washed it before we came here? Or gently put you down so we can swim peacefully together, just like normal best friends do?” He looked down at her, sending her a questioned look. She opened her mouth, about to answer, but it was too late already. She just had the time to close her mouth and not choke, but she was all wet. When she got out of the water, her hair was all over her face and she had a mad look on her face. “What is it with you guys always wanting to throw me into the water?” She wanted to be mad at him, because before they got here, she told him she wanted to swim but keep her hair wet. But he was laughing at her like never before, holding his stomach and actually crying. So instead of giving him the silent treatment, she moved her hair from her face. She came behind him and jumped on his back, surprising him. He almost sent them both in the water, but steaded them and held her legs around his waist. It was her turn to laugh at him. “Never forget that I'm always right, and I always win. Now you have to give me a piggy back ride. In the water. And you have to run, because I noticed that you had a really hard time catching me, so you have to muscle up a bit, because my boyfriend needs to be fit.” She said that last part with an exaggerated raspy voice, mimicking Kirsten from last night. They both laughed at that, and Stiles started running with a happy Lydia on his back.


End file.
